Equal Pay Lawyer in Memphis

Sex-Based Wage Discrimination Claims for Memphis & Mid-South Employees

When two employees perform the same job but receive different pay because of their sex, that disparity may violate federal and Tennessee law. The federal Equal Pay Act, enacted in 1963 as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. § 206(d)), prohibits sex-based compensation discrimination for work performed under similar conditions requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility. Tennessee’s Equal Pay Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-2-202(a), carries a parallel requirement for comparable work in comparable conditions.

Our employment law attorneys at Donati Law, PLLC have served Memphis and Mid-South workers for more than 35 years, including cases where men and women holding the same position were paid differently because of their gender.

If you believe you’re being paid less than a colleague of a different sex for the same work, contact us at (901) 209-5500 to discuss what you’ve observed.

What an Equal Pay Violation Actually Requires

Many people assume an equal pay claim turns on job titles. It doesn’t. Courts look at what a job actually requires: the skills involved, the effort it demands, the responsibilities it carries, and the conditions under which it’s performed. A different title or a slightly different job description won’t defeat a claim if the day-to-day content of two jobs is substantially the same.

Both men and women are protected under the Equal Pay Act. An employer can’t pay a male employee less than his female counterpart for comparable work any more than it can do the reverse.

Employer Defenses to a Pay Disparity

Once you show that employees of different sexes doing comparable work receive different pay, the burden shifts to your employer. Under the Equal Pay Act, a pay differential is permitted only if the employer proves it stems from a bona fide seniority system, a merit system, a system measuring earnings by output or production quality, or some other factor genuinely unrelated to sex. Courts scrutinize these justifications closely.

Two details matter here. First, an employer can’t comply by cutting the higher-paid employee’s wages. Second, even when an employer offers one of those defenses, an employee may still recover by showing that the stated reason isn’t the real reason for the disparity.

What You Can Recover & When You Must Act

A successful equal pay claim can result in back pay covering the wages you were unlawfully denied. Liquidated damages equal to the back-pay award are also generally available, unless the employer can show it acted in good faith with reasonable grounds to believe its pay practices complied with the law. A prevailing employee is generally entitled to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and costs from the employer.

Deadlines are strict. Under the Equal Pay Act, employees generally have two years from the date of a violation to bring a claim, extended to three years if the violation was willful. Waiting reduces the period for which back pay can be recovered, so early legal advice matters.

Employees who raise pay concerns or seek legal counsel about a potential pay disparity are also protected from retaliation. If an employer responds to your inquiry with adverse action, that conduct may give rise to a separate claim.

Talk to an Equal Pay Attorney in Memphis

Donati Law, PLLC is a family-run practice. We take on clients individually, not as case numbers, and we advocate for their rights at every stage of a matter. If you work in Memphis or anywhere in the Mid-South and suspect your pay doesn’t reflect the work you actually perform, we can discuss your situation.

Call us at (901) 209-5500 or use our contact form to reach our team and describe what you’ve been experiencing.